Rabin assassinated at peace rally

Peres named acting head of government

November 4, 1995
Web posted at: 6:25 p.m. EST (2325 GMT)

TEL AVIV, Israel (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin was assassinated at a peace rally Saturday night in Tel
Aviv's Kings Square, a top aide confirmed. He was reportedly
shot in the arm and back by a Jewish man in his mid-20s who
is allegedly affiliated with right-wing extremist groups.

Rabin was walking to his car after the rally when he was
shot. The 73-year-old prime minister later died in surgery
at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.

The gunman has been identified as Yigal Amir, a law student
at Bar Ilan University who had been involved in right-wing
causes, Israel television reported. It said Amir, a resident
of the central town of Herzeliya, had connections to the
far-right group Eyal. Israeli television said police arrested
Amir after the shooting. (376K QuickTime movie)

Amir confessed to the assassination and reportedly told
investigators, "I acted alone on God's orders and I have no
regrets."

A senior aide said that Foreign Minister Shimon Peres will
assume the role of acting prime minister.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv late Saturday, Peres called
on the divided country to unite. He referred to his friend
Rabin as his comrade, not in arms, but in hope.

He said the peace process was not one between two men, Rabin
and Arafat, but a peace between two nations. When he was
asked about the identity of the man who allegedly shot Rabin,
Peres said, "The killer is a killer. We are not a nation of
killers. It's not the violence that frightens me, it's the
fear of violence." But, he added, Rabin was not afraid.

Peres was with Rabin at the hospital. Witnesses said that
Peres kissed the prime minister on the forehead as he died.

An emergency cabinet meeting was called in Tel Aviv.
Grim-faced, the members of the cabinet left the
hospital where Rabin died and headed for the meeting, where a
memorial took place.

Rabin will be buried Monday afternoon, Israel's radio
reported. The radio also said that despite the Jewish custom
of burying the dead within one day, Rabin's funeral has been
delayed for an extra day to allow world leaders to attend.
The burial location has not been announced.

In a Rose Garden appearance at the White House at 5:50 p.m.
EDT, an emotional President Clinton said that the world has
lost one of it's greatest leaders. He called Rabin a "martyr
for his nation's peace." The president said he sent his love
to Rabin's family and said, "Now the peace process belongs to
us."

The president was informed of Rabin's death by National
Security Adviser Anthony Lake.

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat said he was "very sad and very
shocked for this awful and terrible crime." (256K AIFF sound
or 256K WAV sound) "He is one of
the brave leaders of Israel and the peacemakers," Arafat
said. "I hope that we will have the ability, the Israelis
and Palestinians, to overcome this tragedy. I offer my
condolences to his wife, his family, the Israeli government
and the Israeli people."

Secretary of State Warren Christopher issued a statement
Saturday. He said that "history will record Prime Minister
Rabin as one of the towering figures of the century."

"Israel has lost one of it's finest sons, and we have lost a
strong and true friend of the United States," Christopher
said.